Sunday,
November 20, 2011
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Northern Highlands celebrated the culmination of its perfect season and the Group 3 state title after a 2-0 win over Moorestown on Saturday at TCNJ. |
EWING – The oldest definition of "perfection", fairly precise and distinguishing the shades of the concept, goes back to Aristotle. In the book Delta of the Metaphysics, he distinguishes three meanings of the term, or rather three shades of one meaning, but in any case three different concepts.
Perfect is that:
1. which is complete — which contains all the requisite parts;
2. which is so good that nothing of the kind could be better;
3. which has attained its purpose.
For the now juniors and seniors that were a part of Northern Highlands’ run to the Group 3 state final, the script looked all too familiar as time winded down in yesterday’s Group 3 state final against Moorestown. In the 2009 final, Northern Highlands dominated Hopewell Valley but never found the back of the net and had to settle for a co-championship. It was more of the same on Saturday as Moorestown was able to hold off the high-powered attack of the Highlanders well into the second half.
Only this time, the Highlanders’ perfect season and a No. 1 ranking in New Jersey were on the line. In the eyes of this team and their head coach, Tara Madigan, a tie would be no better than a loss. They did not come all this way to share a state title. The Highlanders wanted the dream ending to the perfect season and they were not going to let any obstacle stand in their way.
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Moorestown keeper Rebecca Schultz stood up to the Highlands attack until the final 7:25. |
Jackie Reyneke has been an offensive force on her throw-ins alone all season and came up with a huge one again when her team needed one the most. Her long throw went off the Moorestown goalie’s hands and into the net with 7:25 to play and freshman Hana Kerner added an insurance goal as Northern Highlands topped off one of the best seasons ever by a girls soccer team in New Jersey with a perfect 24-0 record and now a Group 3 state championship after a 2-0 triumph at the College of New Jersey.
“We knew we could win it all and it feels amazing to do it,” said Northern Highlands senior Arista Meneve, who is one of the state’s best marking backs. “All season we have given ourselves very high goals, but we always felt we had the team that could reach them. The ball didn’t bounce our way a few times, but we never gave up and we just kept playing. The pressure we felt at the end of the game, we used more as positive energy than anything else to fight through the tough times and get the job done.”
Madigan was about the only person at the stadium from North Jersey who genuinely believed that Moorestown could give the Highlanders a game. It turned out she was right as the Quakers showed no signs of intimidation and played the Highlanders straight up even through the first half. They were able to win 50-50 balls and anytime the Highlanders tried to get something going off of long throw from Reyneke, Moorestown keeper Rebecca Schultz charged off of her line immediately and aggressively punched the ball away.
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Highlands keeper Brooke Holle stuffed two breakways to keep Moorestown off the board. |
As the second half began though, the Highlanders customary tidal wave of offense began to flow. But where the Highlanders have excelled all year in finishing their scoring opportunities, was a source for concern on this afternoon as Clare Shea, Emma Sullivan, and Kerner all just missed from within 12 yards in a 10-minute span. Just when the Highlanders were worried about Moorestown packing it in and playing for a tie with less than 10 minutes left in regulation, they were nearly looking at something worse: a deficit.
Megan Kelly slipped in behind the defense and took a pass from Steph Toy for a breakaway, but Northern Highlands netminder Brooke Holle was up to the task though. She charged off of her line to cut down the angle and stonewalled Kelly’s attempt before doing the same minutes later to preserve the lead against Moorestown’s Annie Keim.
“Those were some huge saves Brooke made,” said Madigan. “Even though they got a couple of chances, we had to keep pushing people from the back forward. We saw how tough they were defensively and weren’t playing for the tie, so we had to make something happen up top.”
They did just that behind as big of a scoring weapon as any team has in New Jersey in the 6-foot-3 Reyneke, who can throw the ball 40 yards and pinpoint any spot in the box. For all the throws she felt she threw well throughout the game, it turned out to be the one she felt slip that proved to be the game-changer.
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Freshman Hana Kerner provided the insurance goal for Highlands. |
Taking the throw-in about 10 yards from the end line, Reyneke was looking to get it toward the middle of the box. But the ball quickly curved towards the near post and glanced off Schultz’s hands and in with 7:25 to give the Highlanders a 1-0 lead and a sigh of relief.
“That wasn’t where I wanted to throw it, but I’ll take it every time when it goes in the net,” said Reyneke, who also scored a goal the exact same way in the Highlanders’ Group 3 semifinal win over West Morris. “I honestly couldn’t believe it went in until I saw my teammates just running towards me. Even though we didn’t have much time left, we always felt we would find a way to put one in. Our team has been through it all so we were ready for anything.”
After Holle stopped Keim, the Highlanders went on a counter attack with Madison Holleran slipping a pass to open space right at midfield. Kerner beat the Quakers’ sweeper to the ball and touched it around her for a clear breakaway. She then dribbled it by the diving Schultz and tapped it into the open net to put the icing on the cake for the Highlanders.
As the final seconds were counted down towards the school’s first outright state championship (they tied in their three other Group 3 final appearances 1991, 1992, 2009) over the PA system at TCNJ, the season the Northern Highlanders players and coaches had envisioned from Day 1 was now was not only a pipe dream, but a reality.
“For this team to do what they have done is incredible,” added Madigan. “We never gave up and we found a way to win. I couldn’t be more proud of what we accomplished this season and I’ll always remember this one.”
With a final record or 24 wins and zero losses, Northern Highlands was the best team in its league, it was the best team in Bergen County, and with Saturday’s win, it proved to be the best team in New Jersey. To sum it up in one word, it was…..perfect.
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